In a post-apocalyptic world (aren't they all), a sinister organization known as the Southern Cross wants to rule the wastelands. The forces of evil are represented by Lord Shin (Mandylor) and the baddie Jackal (Penn). A lone hero stands up for himself and the rights of others, a man named Kenshiro (Daniels). His "Fist of the North Star" stands in opposition to the Southern Cross. From here on out it's a fairly straightforward battle of good vs. evil with plenty of familiar faces along the way, from Melvin Van Peebles to Lockdown's (1990) Chris DeRose, among many others. Will Kenshiro beat the baddies? Fist of the North Star was originally a Japanese animation, or Manga. Someone apparently thought a Direct-To-Video live-action remake was exactly what the world needed. They even used American and British stars, but didn't change their original Japanese names. Hence credits like "And Malcolm McDowell as Ryuken". You don't see that one every day. So Gary Daniels plays a guy named Kenshiro, etc. But the real problem with this movie is that it is a mishmash of pointless, plot less gobbledygook. You don't really care too much about any of the characters, and, largely because of the closed-in sets, the whole movie has a claustrophobic and stagey vibe which doesn't do anyone any favors.Top fan favorite Gary Daniels appears to be doing his absolute best, but it's like he's trudging through syrup. It's a total post-apocalyptic slog, and without any bright spots, such as Steele Frontier's (1995) Chickenboy. It's ground that's been well-trod in the past. Downtown Julie Brown can't Wubba Wubba her way out of this one. While it's trying to be just like the anime version, with a bunch of wacky, cartoonish effects, the only time the movie really shines is in the straight-up Martial Arts fights. And most of the really good ones don't come until the end of the movie. And by that time, the viewer is saying, in frustration, "Where were these before?!??" This led us to the conclusion that if Isaac Florentine directed this movie, it would have been similar, but a lot better.As we've discussed before on this site, when it comes to movie-watching, there is a definite difference between watching a movie and waiting for a movie to be over. It's an important distinction, and because of the rampant LONE TIGER EFFECT, and the fact that at the end of the day this is just another post-apocalyptic slog, we cannot recommend Fist of the North Star. We still love Gary Daniels and all, but this is not one of his best projects, in our opinion.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

Now this is a good adaptation of the original manga and anime, the Producers of Daredevil and Super Mario Bros. can learn something by watching it. It stays fateful to the story without changing any major plot points or characters. I do wish they had the scene where Ken powers up which destroys his shirt and the seven scars glow. But that is really minor compared to the whole movie. They also didn't have the guy that had the energy strings that sliced people like ham. That was cool. Again a minor complaint. This is an exciting and entertaining live action American version and I think fans of the anime will enjoy this.

This is without doubt the worst film I have ever seen. The acting, action and fight sequences were truly awful. I do understand that this was a low budget film but that is no excuse for such a poor effort by all involved.People be warned, do not watch this film!By watching this film you will appreciate all other films that were ever made!!1 out of 10(if it was possible to give zero for this film I would definitely do it, that bad!)I hope you all agree

I was really disappointed with this film. I saw it back in 1996 on the Sci-Fi channel and remembered it being not half-bad. Upon watching it again, I found it to lack many things. I never watched the Anime or read the comics because I am just not into that stuff, but, from what I have read about it, the Anime sounds like it wipes the floor with this poor production.Kenshiro is the hero of the story played by Gary Daniels for some reason. It's funny, I thought Kenshiro was suppose to be Asian, but whatever. Lord Shin, the lead bad guy also played by an American, kidnaps Kenshiro's girl Juliet and leaves Kenshiro for dead after brutally injuring him. What you think would be a classic good vs. evil story gets very boring as nothing happens until the end, and at that point you have already lost interest.I had thought this movie was going to be extremely violent due to the fact that the Anime is suppose to be viciously violent, but, this movie lacks any real action or violence, minus about 3 or 4 scenes. Instead, what we have is a movie that feels like the end of a really bad Trilogy that doesn't exist. Perhaps, if the movie were cast better and had a decent script it would have worked better. And Tony Randel as director was very disappointing considering this is the same guy that directed Hellraiser 2 (one of my all time favorite films).The only plus side of this movie was a pretty decent soundtrack and Chris Penn. The soundtrack was very good considering the movie was very boring. Chris Penn did a cool job with his character and was probably the only real highlight of the film.I guess I need to watch the Anime, even if I don't really like Anime. I would suggest staying away from this movie only if you really like Gary Daniels. 4/10